Broken Feather
by Firebirds of Winter
Summary: She’s been gone for four months; can Mikey save her before it’s too late?


**Disclaimer: I have yet to receive the rights of the TMNT franchise - just Koro and Eathan *sighs in resignation***

**- sorry about being slack. i had... (sees four angry turtles glaring at me) *gulp* i mean... (a very annoyed Donny grabs Raph's sai menacingly) *laughs nervously and runs behind Eathan* parlay? *raises white flag***

***ONE SHOT***

**'In The End' by Linkin Park – Koro and Mike on the rooftop  
****'My Baby' by Britney Spears – Koro's hideout/ letter**

**Reviews are muchly appreciated** **:)**

**side note: i'm thinking of continuing this storyline (even though i said 'one shot' XD). if you want me to continue, just leave a review and a request ^^  
- minimum of 5 requests is for 'broken feather' to be continued :)**

* * *

It was dark that night, humid with no moon. She was looking from the top of a building in lower Manhattan, near the Brooklyn Bridge. Purple Dragons were tagging a nearby wall. _The fifth one tonight_, she thought as the tag revealed itself to be a spear piercing through four turtles.

It had been four months since she left the only family she knew. They helped her defeat her sworn sister, Susie, two weeks before she left. She couldn't bear to leave them, but she had no choice. Now she was a vigilante, her Ninjutsu skills aiding her as she cleaned up the city's 'garbage' – Purple Dragons. Tonight was no different. She leaped from her perch to the ground, landing silently behind the hapless dragons.

Two minutes later, she was running along the rooftops with skill that gave note to her family. She stopped, sensing something. She looked up, and realised what she sensed. She bolted, hoping to lose him – and her past – in the rain that had started to pelt all around her with brutal force. Once, she looked back, only to cuss as she realised that her effort to escape was in vain. She stopped when she reached the side of a building, the Hudson River looming ahead.

What was once rain became a torrential storm, the worst one in ten years. Neither she, nor her pursuer cared. She looked at him – no, _glared_ at him with her almost black eyes; the bitter hatred she had for both herself and their father building up until she could taste it in the form of bile in her mouth. Her fists clenched and unclenched several times in a desperate bid to calm herself down.

He lifted a hand and spoke, "Koro, please! Come home! We can work this out!"

* * *

"_I want to see Koro, Don!! PLEASE!! I need to see her!!"_

_Don sighed. He looked at Mike; the slash Mike sustained from Susie was pretty bad, but not life-threatening. Kokoro wasn't so lucky: the cut she endured to her face was nothing compared to the wound she received to her abdominal cavity, saving Mike in the process._

"_Mikey, you can't, she's still unconscious."_

"_DONATELLO, LET ME SEE HER NOW!!!!!!!" Mikey roared._

"_Mikey… she's… she's a mess. I don't want you to see her like that," Don whispered._

_All Mikey could do for the next two days was cry. Every time one of his brothers, or Eathan for that matter, came in, Mike would demand to see Koro; they stopped coming after Mike lashed out at Eathan in pure desperation._

* * *

She looked at him, fury raging inside her, "It's too late for that Mikey!! I left because I dishonoured you. I needed to face Susie on my own, but in my haste, I led you there. I nearly got you killed! I dishonoured Splinter because I went to face Susie anyway, even though he forbade it. That's why I can't go back!"

He looked at her, tears springing to his eyes.

* * *

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Mikey roared as he saw the katana coming down on Koro. He sailed through the air, nunchaku in hand, hoping to knock Susie out. He realised his mistake too late as Susie's katana moved like lightning, slicing his plastron open. Koro screamed bloody murder as Mikey slumped to the ground. _

"_And now, freak! Your life will end!" Susie growled as she brought her sword down for the killing blow. Koro lunged towards Mikey, desperate to save him. The sword came down, piercing right through Koro until the blade touched the ground. Susie ripped the blade from Koro, who let out a blood curdling scream._

* * *

Koro was staring at the Hudson, her waist-length black hair clinging to her black clothes.

"Mikey, the real reason I can't go back is because I broke your heart when I left. Leo won't accept me into the family again; Don won't talk to me anymore 'cause of what I've done; Raph… I don't even want to think about what he'll do to me if he sees me again."

"Koro, please!!!! I - I love you Koro! I don't care how long it will take before we can get back to a fraction of what we were before, but I just can't live without you any longer!"

Koro glanced at Mikey, who hung his head in sorrow; he was a mess – he looked like he hadn't eaten for weeks nor slept in a long time. She choked, tears streaming down her pale skin. She wanted to go there and hold him: hold him and tell him to look after himself and be there for him. She wanted to do that so bad.

"Michelangelo, I love you. I have always loved you and I will always love you my feather. You mean more to me than life itself. I miss you – miss you real bad, and I will never, NEVER forget you. Know that."

When Mikey looked up a second later, he saw Koro at the edge of the building. "NOOOOOO!!!!!!!! KORO DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

But before Mikey could move a muscle though, Koro leapt and disappeared into the Hudson.

--------

A few days later, Mikey finally found her hideout by Central Lake; a small cave that Koro used as a safe house. He stumbled up the tiny bank, not really seeing anything. He collapsed in a heap where he did before when Susie nearly killed him. His hand wandered over the small collection of photos that Koro had: Koro and Eathan, Mikey and his brothers, and a family photo of everyone a week before Koro left: Splinter, Leo, Raph, Donny, Eathan, Mikey and Koro. But that's not the photo where Mike's hand stopped. He picked up the photo in the centre of the collection. Looking at it through eyes that were blurry with tears, Mikey saw himself and Koro smiling and looking like the happiest people on the planet.

Mike smiled in spite of himself. "You always knew how to make someone smile, Koro," he croaked.

Wiping his eyes, Mikey saw something on the table that sparked his curiosity. A small piece of paper was rustling with the wind that blew in off the lake. Mikey picked it up; it was a letter addressed to him.

_Mike,_

_By the time you find this I'll be long gone. It kills me to write this, even think about it, but if I don't, you'll never know why I left._

_I left because I was ashamed. Ashamed of what I've done. I don't know who I am anymore, and every time I saw you, I felt my heart break as it continues to do so now. Don't blame yourself, for it wasn't your fault. After Don and Raph took you back to the lair, I pinned Susie… I wasn't going to let her live for what she did to you. We were fighting for about ten minutes after she stabbed me; I remember tremendous pain as I pinned her against the wall, dagger upon her throat. She kept egging me to 'finish the job', to kill her. Leo tried to get me off of her, but it was too late. I killed her; it was quick so her death was painless. _

_Then the next thing I remember was the look on Leo's face when I woke up in the infirmary. I knew then that I was to leave and not taint anyone else of my atrocity. I didn't want to leave and I begged Splinter to let me prove myself again. He told me that whilst I couldn't stay anymore, he didn't want me to go because he didn't want to lose you.  
__I was torn. I didn't want to lose you either, so I sought the help of Leo. I feared Raph and I was too ashamed to go to Don or Eathan. Leo told me to go and never come back, saying that I relinquished my honour when I killed Susie, who was defenceless after I pinned her. I didn't want to leave, but wherever I went to in the lair, I felt like I was the main attraction at a zoo. So I left._

_I'm sorry I didn't leave you a note when I left, it was sort of spur-of-the-moment. I regret leaving you and still continue to regret it with every waking moment._

_I guess I'm breaking your heart again as you read this. I couldn't bear to be tormented by my past anymore, but I guess that was my punishment. To be slowly destroyed from within by memories, regrets and things left unsaid. I guess I am a coward by taking the easy way out and putting myself out of my misery._

_Angelo, I bet you're pretty well pissed off at me at the moment, but can you promise me something?  
__Promise me that you will move on, that you'll keep laughing, keep playing video games, and keep annoying the living shell out of everyone else? The last thing I want for you is to become a ghost of yourself, like I have. It's not what I want for you, 'cause you deserve better._

_Promise me that you'll move on, but don't forget me. Don't forget my memory, Sai'ai._

_Kokoro_

Mikey read the letter two more times, hands shaking more and more violently each time. Finally, Mike put the letter in a waterproof pouch behind his belt. As he did this, he noticed a short note that slipped from the table:

_I love and miss you more than you know, Mike. Could you tell Splinter, Leo, Don, Raph and Eathan that I love them and I miss them?  
__And Feather? Don't kill Leo. Please don't kill Leo. I don't want to be the one who causes the family to fall apart. Stay with them. They're worried about you and please look after yourself._

Mike put this with the letter, and started to leave. Before he dived into the water, he looked out to the calm waters of Central Lake and whispered, "I'm not pissed off at you babe, I love you too much. I won't forget you, Koro. And I won't kill Leo; I'll leave that to you. Rest in peace, love"

* * *

**reviews make me smile**


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